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[Majora]

The music was actually one of my favourite elements in the game. Most of it is familiar classical music but it's arranged so well and inventively in some places (the worrywart kingdom boss springs to mind). I can see why not having an original score might be disappointing to some but I don't think anyone can doubt the quality of the arrangements.

Anyway while I simply can't understand how they scored The Conduit higher, the review is very positive on the whole so I have to reluctantly douse my flaming torch and put away my pitchfork.

 

[pakkit]

Bozon reviewed LKS, Casamassina reviewed Conduit. I wouldn't read into it too much.

 

[GhaleonQ]

I am usually not a jerk when it comes to reviews. So, before I begin what may be a lifetime of douchebaggery, I will say that he generally got the in-game facts straight.

"From the innovative mind that brought us Harvest Moon"
"Envisioned by the creator of Harvest Moon Yasuhira Wada,"

No. He had the idea for a person leading others and hired people (that is, ripping off Pikmin), but Love-De-Lic and Punchline's Kimura came up with pretty much every idea (including the king premise).

The less said about controls complaining, the better.

"The style itself looks great, but the game has almost too soft of a look, acting as if the lens has smeared Vaseline on it or just a blurry filter to try and soften up the visuals even more."

Idiot. www.siliconera.com/2009/06/19/building-little-kings-story Russian oil animation = Academy Award-winning (among others) Aleksandr Petrov = 1 of my all-time favorite animators. www.youtube.com/watch?v=YT0RBM3X254 www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXqJsjNB5so Ugh. It doesn't even interfere with combat, so that's no excuse.

"and while the music is well composed and oftentimes humorous in its own right there's also a lot of public domain songs in there. "

...While Tchaikovskii is, indeed, "public domain" music, I don't think that's the best description of it. The Love-De-Lic composers (who always make stellar soundtracks, which I posted) are all busy working on other games that won't come out here. And as I said, www.originalsoundversion.com/?p=3115 Minobe did the soundtrack, arranged it excellently, and they're probably going to sell it for free (Kimura hopes).

"and the final package is one developer Cing should be proud of."

Cing did not do the main development work.

Also, what does "presentation" mean? Controls? That seems wrong.

 

[one_kill]

The IGN review was alright. I just don't like how Bozon complained about IR control as I felt that it was unnecessary for the most part (though there is a stage later on when I felt like I would have benefited from having it).

In any case, 8.5 is a good score. I'm expecting this game to be receiving deviations between 8 and 9, with a few scoring it higher, so I'm not too nitpicky about it.

 

[gerg]

"The style itself looks great, but the game has almost too soft of a look, acting as if the lens has smeared Vaseline on it or just a blurry filter to try and soften up the visuals even more."

Idiot. www.siliconera.com/2009/06/19/building-little-kings-story Russian oil animation = Academy Award-winning (among others) Aleksandr Petrov = 1 of my all-time favorite animators. www.youtube.com/watch?v=YT0RBM3X254 www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXqJsjNB5so Ugh. It doesn't even interfere with combat, so that's no excuse.

I've watched (some of) Petrov's films, and his style is to incorporate areas of vague and subtle colour and form, especially when describing motion. So, as much as the art style may have been intentional, to deny its weaknesses seems disingenuous - at the end of the day, it is a "soft" style, which some people may not appreciate.

 

[zigg]

...While Tchaikovskii is, indeed, "public domain" music, I don't think that's the best description of it. The Love-De-Lic composers (who always make stellar soundtracks, which I posted) are all busy working on other games that won't come out here.

Didn't Kimura say in some interview (was it ours? :lol) that the classical music was specifically called-for by the game?

Ah, yes it was (http://www.n-sider.com/contentview.php?contentid=3918):

"I draw a lot of inspiration from older games, NES and Atari games," he says. "Namco's games... Pac-Man, Xevious... Marble Madness!" We know Marble Madness, of course.

He starts humming the Marble Madness main theme. "The music was very catchy, don't you think?" He continues to hum. For this game, because of the kingdom-type setting, they had to go more the route of classical music, he tells us, and so fewer of the catchy, old-style tunes made it into the game.

"He would still call the composer and hum notes into the phone," Soga tells us.

 

[jj984jj]

8.0 Gameplay
All of the elements are presented well, balanced, and a lot of fun. No pointer control is a serious oversight though. This could have been 9.0 quality with the right implementation.

Predictable.

 

[Hero of Legend]

So can anyone confirm yet if the NA release supports 480p or not?

 

[GhaleonQ]

So, as much as the art style may have been intentional, to deny its weaknesses seems disingenuous - at the end of the day, it is a "soft" style, which some people may not appreciate.

On the subject of bad faith, it's important for reviewers to really think about in-game aesthetics before making an argument. It's still fair to say that one just doesn't like Gears Of Wars browns, but not every game calls for that simple an argument. Since, as mentioned, this game is a mix of The Little Prince and The Nutcracker ballet (with a lot of its music), it's marrying the visuals and the sound. It's inspired by a very well-respected animator. The developers were TRYING to make a soft style, so it wasn't caused by laziness. It doesn't affect the gameplay (correct me if anyone had trouble), so it doesn't interfering with one's enjoyment in that sense. So, is this closer to "Gears Of War 2 is grey," or "Okami looks funny. Yuck."? Smart decisions require a little more argumentation, I think. Otherwise, it's a bad faith criticism.

And, to be fair, he clearly wasn't aware that it was on purpose or why it was on purpose.

 

[Amir0x]

THERE IS NO EMOTICON FOR WHAT I AM FEELING

MAKE A THREAD ABOUT HOW SHITTY THE REVIEW IS

 

[Chumly]

Bozon reviewed LKS, Casamassina reviewed Conduit. I wouldn't read into it too much.

Most people wouldnt care except for on one of the podcasts a while ago BOTH Bozon and Matt I believe said that The Conduit is DEFINITELY a better game. Techinically a .1 score difference isnt anything to talk about but basically it sounded like they were going to rate it a lot lower. Then they played it and found out it was awesome but were still like WELL we cant rate it higher than The Conduit since we already said its better so lets just give it a 8.5!

 

[Amir0x]

They meant Conduit is a better game to put up on a pedestal so they can laugh at fanboys as they inevitably fall over themselves trying to justify their shitty purchase. Not that it was of a higher quality. Duh.

 

[Hero of Legend]

I'm happy with an 8.5, you guys made it sound like they were going to 7.9 it! :lol

 

[zigg]

Just read it.

The game was hardly mentioned. The review was basically "oh god Wii needs games", "no pointer wtf lol", "Vaseline on your screen", and then a ridiculously rushed "ohbutit'sfunIguess".

What a riot.

 

[hellclerk]

okay, i'm going to start like this: Bozon had already lost quite a bit on me in the first paragraph by committing his first sin of media reviews: referencing other reviews in contrast to his own. already wary, i read on. his next couple of paragraphs seemed fine, despite the eyebrow raise when he mentioned Harvest Moon (i honestly don't see the parallels), though that's not all in his review.

then he mentioned the controls. i expected that. it still made me facepalm. a "huge oversight" it was not, as evidenced by interviews. and as nice as it would be to have it, it was a conscious decision to keep it out, for whatever reason they might have. not to mention, it doesn't hinder the actual game in any real way, so expecting such a feature to be used is placing specific personal expectation on the product. it's not like he went into it, and half-way through went: "you know? this could really use IR." dollars to donuts, he went in knowing there wasn't any IR control, and thus had an initial bias against it.

then he complained about something i DIDN'T expect. the music. seriously, THE MUSIC. the music was a VERY intentional part of the design. the reason Shimomura (who only arranged two songs, one of them the only original) and Minobe were on the project is because they were the two who were comfortable arranging the classical tunes. and as someone who knows music, arranging a piece can really recolor the whole song.

last thing he complained about was the "Vaseline filter," which not exactly bad, raised an eyebrow since the same comment was used in a different review, but as a positive for the style. very odd...

regardless, Bozon complaining about there not being pointer controls or a fresh score is like complaining The Life Aquatic didn't have digital effects and just used chiptunes and David Bowie songs instead of a full orchestra. no self respecting critic would have been so unprofessional as to call that film out for it.

EDIT: to be clear, i couldn't give a shit about the score. the writing is just what strikes me as utter shite. it's the same case with the Conduit review. just bad reviewing. i've pretty much lost most respect for Matt and Bozon in being capable of reviewing things. Craig is the only one that really gives me any hope...

 

[Amir0x]

i must admit, though i am super happy for LKS and am really genuinely excited for it (and this review is SUPER POSITIVE), I still can't help but be amused at the speed at which certain nintendo fans break their back to defend the complete lack of using wiimote controls, in a genre which clearly would benefit from it. Maybe this is a magical one that would actually not benefit at all, or not much, but it is very amusing.

Like all of a sudden a reviewer mentioning they would have liked wiimote pointer controls is a sin. How dare they! These are the very same people who mention every genre on earth should utilize wiimote now, and bitch when PS360 game reviews don't mention that the games are worse off for not using it.

Of course fanboy hypocrisy always makes me laugh. I'm only human.

 

[mrgone]

All this about an IGN review? For sanity's sake just ignore IGN and move on

 

[AniHawk]

i must admit, though i am super happy for LKS and am really genuinely excited for it (and this review is SUPER POSITIVE), I still can't help but be amused at the speed at which certain nintendo fans break their back to defend the complete lack of using wiimote controls

I find it odd that there are people who normally don't care for the Wii's controls want them in this game and there are people who normally defend them to death now defending the lack of their use in this game.

LKS has created a mirror universe.

 

[Amir0x]

I find it odd that there are people who normally don't care for the Wii's controls that want them in this game and there are people who normally defend them to death now defending the lack of their use in this game.

LKS has created a mirror universe.

i have always been consistent in that this type of genre is the one i want wiimote controls on. I have always endorsed Pikmin Wii for this very reason. But you're right, it does seem this game is special.

 

[hellclerk]

i must admit, though i am super happy for LKS and am really genuinely excited for it (and this review is SUPER POSITIVE), I still can't help but be amused at the speed at which certain nintendo fans break their back to defend the complete lack of using wiimote controls, in a genre which clearly would benefit from it. Maybe this is a magical one that would actually not benefit at all, or not much, but it is very amusing.

Like all of a sudden a reviewer mentioning they would have liked wiimote pointer controls is a sin. How dare they! These are the very same people who mention every genre on earth should utilize wiimote now, and bitch when PS360 game reviews don't mention that the games are worse off for not using it.

Of course fanboy hypocrisy always makes me laugh. I'm only human.

don't get me wrong Amir0x, my opinion on the matter is that the game would undoubtedly benefit from IR control. they wouldn't even have to change the gameplay, but i think that the weight that Bozon (and some other reviewers) are putting on the controls is disingenuous to the game on the whole within the context of the review. it makes it seem like the game is suddenly unplayable or something. for context, think about how you defended the analog controls of RE4 when the Wii version came out. while i can certainly say i much prefer the IR aiming, i can still plug in a gamecube controller and have just as much fun. preference, while important in determining your own purchases, is really a very minor detail in what's supposed to be an objective as possible review, where you relate all aspects of the media on the whole.

 

[GhaleonQ]

All this about an IGN review? For sanity's sake just ignore IGN and move on

*shrugs* This needs mouthbreathing buyers. Gamespot reviewed it a long time ago (obviously, a person can access it, but...) and doesn't care about it and IGN gave a sheepish thumbs up while criticizing controls and graphics (that's what those people like, right?). So, basically, general acceptance depends on Metacritic and word-of-mouth, I think.

Also, I hate this generation and have been looking forward to this game for (plural) years, now. I'm allowed to take 1 game far too seriously per generation, damn it!

 

[timetokill]

Personally I was surprised to see that there are no Wii pointer controls in this game, but I'm still really excited for it. Maybe it's a missed opportunity but maybe we'll get a sequel with those types of controls or something. I'm not going to miss out on a great game either way


... except my "release day" shipment has been delayed

--
July 21, 2009 09:00:00 AM ONTARIO INTL CA US Delay in delivery due to external factors
July 21, 2009 08:59:00 AM ONTARIO CA US Arrival Scan
July 21, 2009 07:35:00 AM PHOENIX AZ US Departure Scan
--


WTF. One minute later and there's an "external factor" that delayed it? What could it be? It's not like it's snowing in Southern California.

 

[Volcynika]

Personally I was surprised to see that there are no Wii pointer controls in this game, but I'm still really excited for it. Maybe it's a missed opportunity but maybe we'll get a sequel with those types of controls or something. I'm not going to miss out on a great game either way


... except my "release day" shipment has been delayed

--
July 21, 2009 09:00:00 AM ONTARIO INTL CA US Delay in delivery due to external factors
July 21, 2009 08:59:00 AM ONTARIO CA US Arrival Scan
July 21, 2009 07:35:00 AM PHOENIX AZ US Departure Scan
--


WTF. One minute later and there's an "external factor" that delayed it? What could it be? It's not like it's snowing in Southern California.

I'm gonna play after I eat and maybe shower.

 

[timetokill]

I'm gonna play after I eat and maybe shower.

:lol Damn you

 

[Volcynika]

:lol Damn you

:lol I really wish my post didn't come out that way, but I didn't want to double post!

ALso I thought Amazon gipped me out of the preorder bonus, and he's wrapped with the game on the back of it! So cool.

 

[hellclerk]

:lol I really wish my post didn't come out that way, but I didn't want to double post!

ALso I thought Amazon gipped me out of the preorder bonus, and he's wrapped with the game on the back of it! So cool.

yes, i named mine Larry.

 

[GhaleonQ]

Cheat Code Central's reviews count on the rankings, right? *laughs* www.cheatcc.com/wii/rev/littlekingsstoryreview.html 4.8/5.0 = 96/100 by the ranking's scales.

 

[Amir0x]

don't get me wrong Amir0x, my opinion on the matter is that the game would undoubtedly benefit from IR control. they wouldn't even have to change the gameplay, but i think that the weight that Bozon (and some other reviewers) are putting on the controls is disingenuous to the game on the whole within the context of the review. it makes it seem like the game is suddenly unplayable or something. for context, think about how you defended the analog controls of RE4 when the Wii version came out. while i can certainly say i much prefer the IR aiming, i can still plug in a gamecube controller and have just as much fun. preference, while important in determining your own purchases, is really a very minor detail in what's supposed to be an objective as possible review, where you relate all aspects of the media on the whole.

I just want to jump in here to say you need something called "perspective."

You see with perspective, you would not say Bozon's complaint about the controls suggest the game is unplayable. You would instead say "wow, the game got an 8.5. Which is a really great score. I may disagree with their complaints, but one thing I cannot say is that any of the review complaints suggest the game is anything near unplayable. Because it got an 8.5. Out of 10. Which is fucking high. An 8.5, that is."

I hate to defend IGN for anything, but you guys lack perspective. Even if you disagree with their criticisms, you really cannot act like they tried to say the game was unplayable or even bad because of it. It is, for the most part, an extremely positive review.

Also, I hate this generation and have been looking forward to this game for (plural) years, now.

Stop being so jaded. You'll enjoy life more. When that comes from me, you know it's bad!

 

[justchris]

:lol I really wish my post didn't come out that way, but I didn't want to double post!

ALso I thought Amazon gipped me out of the preorder bonus, and he's wrapped with the game on the back of it! So cool.

There is a pre-order bonus? I didn't know that, I pre-ordered this months ago because I've been looking forward to it so much. My copy should arrive tomorrow. What is it?

 

[Volcynika]

There is a pre-order bonus? I didn't know that, I pre-ordered this months ago because I've been looking forward to it so much. My copy should arrive tomorrow. What is it?

 

[GhaleonQ]

Stop being so jaded. You'll enjoy life more.

Hardly jaded. *looks lovingly at DS* In fact, the reason I anticipated this game is because I was looking for some older games to love, found Hardcore Gaming 101's article, and immediately imported everything they made. Clearly, though, the industry's direction changed immensely. Some of us focused more on console games to escape people like Peter Molyneux.

 

[FlyinJ]

Anyhow........


Was anyone else able to find this in any US stores today?

 

[Volcynika]

Bah, the top little piece that holds the instruction booklet in my case is just broken off. Oh well! Not a big deal.

 

[hellclerk]

I hate to defend IGN for anything, but you guys lack perspective. Even if you disagree with their criticisms, you really cannot act like they tried to say the game was unplayable or even bad because of it. It is, for the most part, an extremely positive review.

so was The Conduit's. i still think that review was trash (as with most other reviews regarding it).

also, i too have been anticipating this game for quite some time. ever since they mentioned the way that each person has their own lives and families, i have wanted this game if only to see how its done. and now it has come full circle. and i couldn't be more pleased. no amount of poor criticism (not even negative, just poor) is going to change that i will play the shit out of this game and love every second.

 

[Hero of Legend]

Bah, the top little piece that holds the instruction booklet in my case is just broken off. Oh well! Not a big deal.

Creepingly enough, I recall that only really happening to my Magical Melody GC box, which was in the Bargain Bin though.

 

[Volcynika]

:lol

The game's startup video is so awesome

 

[GhaleonQ]

The Giant Bombcast didn't even note that it was released. *sad face*

 

[Volcynika]

Half hour into the game.........

.........and it freezes.

 

[jj984jj]

They meant Conduit is a better game to put up on a pedestal so they can laugh at fanboys as they inevitably fall over themselves trying to justify their shitty purchase. Not that it was of a higher quality. Duh.

If only this were true, then I'd sleep better at night.

Half hour into the game.........

.........and it freezes.

What? Don't tell me they broke it when they added the new mode...

 

[Hero of Legend]

Half hour into the game.........

.........and it freezes.

Sure it's not your Wii?

Does it support 480p?

 

[Twilight Princess]

the boss fights, are they on par with pikmin 2's?

 

[one_kill]

the boss fights, are they on par with pikmin 2's?

Not sure since I haven't played Pikmin 2, but the boss battles in LKS are diversified. For instance, one King battle revolves around trivia, while another revolves around a pinball.

 

[Cow Mengde]

The Giant Bombcast didn't even note that it was released. *sad face*

Why would Giant Bomb note the release of a Wii game?

 

[Hero of Legend]

So how did your copy freeze? As far as I know, it's not a common issue, as... no one's talking about it besides you!

I hope it was just your Wii. My Wii forze when I played Rune Factory Frontier at one point while navigating the pause menu, but the repair shop confirmed my Wii was busted.

 

[GhaleonQ]

the boss fights, are they on par with pikmin 2's?

I'm not a Pikmin obsessive, but I really, really love those games. You need to pay a bit more attention to whom you bring to boss fights than in Pikmin 2, but the battles themselves are even better.

 

[Volcynika]

Sure it's not your Wii?

Does it support 480p?

Never had a problem with my Wii, but it is a launch model, so eh. Just played about 45ish minutes more and no other freezing issues. Will play some more and post initial impressions before I go to bed.

 

[Twilight Princess]

Not sure since I haven't played Pikmin 2, but the boss battles in LKS are diversified. For instance, one King battle revolves around trivia, while another revolves around a pinball.

I'm not a Pikmin obsessive, but I really, really love those games. You need to pay a bit more attention to whom you bring to boss fights than in Pikmin 2, but the battles themselves are even better.

thank you guys
hopefully i'll get to play the game tomorrow. i've been looking forward to it since the first trailer.
and, i really don't know how anyone would complain about the use of classical music, i thought it suited the style perfectly (at least in the trailer's case) and hoped that they would use it in the game.

 

[AniHawk]

Why would Giant Bomb note the release of a Wii game?

Mockery.

 

[Cow Mengde]

Mockery.

Good point.

 

[GhaleonQ]

Good point.

YET THEY SPITE ME WITH THEIR WORDS. "The only major retail release this week is...uh...Wii Sports Resort. Which is something something awesome you should buy."